Rock & Chips

Rock and Chips is an intriguing show and provides further insight to Del Boy's up bringing as often referenced in OFAH.

The three episodes are set in the 1950s and feature a young Del Boy and his mates, including Boycie, Trigger, Denzil and even Roy Slater. There is even appearances of other school friends that were never seen in OFAH. The cast are brilliant playing each role and you can clearly see they are each playing to the mannerisms of each character introduced by the actors in OFAH.

The story however mainly focuses on Del and Rodney's Mum Joan Trotter, her relationship with Del's Dad and the affair she had with Freddie the Frog played fantastically by Nicholas Lyndhurst.

The series looks great, but if you are after comedy there isn't too much to be found. This is a 'period' drama first with some light humor here and there.

The show is well written and provides an interesting insight to the history of the characters we love in OFAH and the characters we have heard of.

I prefer the second 2 episodes to the first which I found too long. There seemed to be more humor in the later two.

It's a shame the series was never completed due to John Sullivan's untimely death and as a result we only have part of the story leading up to Only Fools and Horses. I understand we were going to see the death of Joan Trotter and also Freddy the Frog, resulting in Del and baby Rodney living with Grandad.

Worth a watch for OFAH devotees but not essential viewing. Out of the spin offs I prefer The Green Green Grass which was a true continuation of the sitcom format.

This seems to be the BBC motto as they frantically try and drag another success out of the Only Fools and Horses hat. They've tried a spin off so why not try a prequel.Luckily for them they have struck gold.

John Sullivan has created a warm and funny comedy drama that captures the love story of Del Boy's mum and Freddie the frog that was touched upon in Only Fools. It has iconic music in it throughout and some wonderful moments that prove that Sullivan is still at the top of his game.

Kelly Bright is good as Joan and Nicholas Lyndhurst makes a passable villain as Freddy the Frog. Much was said about James Buckley taking on the iconic role of Del Boy but to be honest he doesn't really have a lot to do and it's the Joan and Freddie love story that carries the piece.

Sure it may not have been what everyone expected but at the end of the day everyone loves the trotters and this drama only makes us love them more.

This prog was hyped up, big time, in the uk & going into it i thought i was going to be disappointed by having hopes set too high on the utter brilliance of "only fools." For the first ten minutes i could not get out of the mindset of only fools and wanted to see some of the gags and jokes we've come to know the trotters for over the years. However, after settling into the story i found myself intrigued by the trotters begginings & pleasantly surprised. "Rock & chips" has a far more serious mood too it than only fools did,with no laughter track and subtle jokes and some well-placed gags.The mix of humour and drama is excellent! I think this is where it will excel and grow substantially,as it lets us see what life was really like for the trotters in 60's London. I say give it a watch even if u haven't seen only fools, as it can work both ways with prequels and sequels. Top-notch bbc again!!!

As a fan of the television series Only Fools and Horses I was well aware that write John Sullivan had at times retcon the Trotter family history here and there when the comedy series was running.

When the prequel Rock & Chips was made I felt the reconning went to overtime and by this period I felt Mr Sullivan who was soon to pass away had lost his comedy mojo.

The pilot episode started brightly enough and with high viewing figures with a mixture of music, nostalgia and comedy-drama.

We are transported to the Peckham of the 1960s when Del boy was younger, cocky but a little bit green.

It is more about Joan Trotter much mentioned in the original series living a downtrodden life with a no good husband, Reg. A character who only once appeared in OFAH as their long lost dad. A younger version of Granddad is also there showing traits we saw in the original comedy show.

Joan is a cinema usher with a pervy boss and meets the charming ex- con Freddie Robdal played by Nicholas Lyndhurst who charms her takes her away from her humdrum life.

Lyndhurst is having a ball plying the charming but also ruthless Freddie the Frog. You simply forget Rodney the Plonker. However he was a minor character in the OFAH canon who is playing a bigger role in events and the surrounding characters. I always assumed he was someone Joan had a fling with, around for a short time and disappeared. He may or may not had been Rodney's dad. A mute point now given that Lyndhurst plays Friddie.

The show was not too funny because it was more of a drama which left young Del Boy out in the cold and his friends such as Boycie were too minor as characters. For OFAH geeks like me Joan was painted very much as an angel here as in the original show, although she was spoken in the past tense as she died when Rodney was an infant, she was supposedly a bit of a floozy.

By the time the third episode came around the viewers lost interest in the show. The main reason was because the show was disjointed and lacked focus. We expected a comedy about the misadventures of young Del boy and we did not get it.

Don't go into it thinking it's the same as Only Fools and Horses, because you'll be disappointed, and miss a great series. All the locations were appropriate for the time it's set. The characters are all well played, and none of them feel out place. The story is great, and the drama and jokes are both well timed.